There’s nothing new to be said about the tool; my intent for the post is to remind you that tools like this exist. There have been a couple of occasions these past few months, where I wish I had a chisel close at hand. Not a good one, and not an improvised “I could use this knife as a chisel” type of tool, but a simple chisel for some quick work.

For those applications, this folding chisel might have been just what I needed.

At just $10, the Stanley pocket chisel isn’t a big investment. For regular use, or more demanding use I would probably consider FastCap’s different sizes. Or a traditionally-styled full-handled wood chisel.

Maybe the FastCap folding chisels offer more for the added cost? You can buy two of the Stanley chisels for the price of just one FastCap.

This isn’t a tool for building heirloom furniture. But if you’re doing something like installing a new pre-hung door, and the lock strike plate mortise isn’t exact, you’ll need quick chisel work to make things right.

I’ve been looking at the fastcap version recently. Definitely nice for the carpenter to keep your tool bags from getting cut up, and keep the edges from getting nicked against metal objects in your bags or toolbox. Didn’t realize there was a cheaper option, so thank you

I like the idea. I have done work where I needed to do some quick chisel work away from the shop, and this would have filled the bill. Folded, you can drop it in a toolbox with other tools and not worry about damaging the edge or anything else. Probably not rock solid, but I’d be willing to bet it would be better than hammering on a folding knife to remove a bit of wood when the chisel I needed was a 40 minute round trip away.
Definitely falls into the ‘the one I have is more useful than the one I didnt bring’ category.

I have the Fastcap version. It’s a useful tool. And it doesn’t stab you in the leg when you put it in your pocket, so double bonus. Judging from the fact that the Stanley version costs half as much, I’d probably buy that one if I was in the market. I might have to get the putty knife version, I use those things a lot more than chisels.

The only chisels I use on jobsites are the stanley folding chisel in my side pocket and the fastcap chisels in a tstak. They are amazing, feel quite precise and are great for any application. The stanley is functioning as my less sharp Construction chisel, and it has taken a serious beating with a hammer and still works after several years. As gimmicky as they seem. They work great, and I always have a chisel on me wherever I go on a jobsite

This is a real thing? Seriously? It’s not a holdover from an April Fool’s Joke?

Okay… I’ll bite… I suppose this would qualify as an “Oops” tool. Not something you use every day, just something you use to correct last minute “Oops” situations that you FIND every day. A burr left over from a planer used on a door or plank before installing it, that tiny imperfection that should have been caught a few minutes before, hell even removing that excess window frame paint that you could have sworn you taped off properly but has dried to the window anyways.

I agree that the strike plate somewhat worries me. Probably wouldn’t worry me so much if the strike plate was a single piece plate that covered both ends, rather than two smaller ones.

I’d honestly like to know the OFFICIAL reason for this design. What was its intended use, according to Stanley? I’m now curious what they were thinking this would be. I can speculate until I turn purple, but honestly this doesn’t seem quite right somehow.

I am going to pick one up but the 1″ blade is not the most useful width. I wish Stanley would also add a 1/2″ and 3/4″ chisel width. Thinking about buying the Fastcap set of folding pocket chisels (with plastic case, folding sharpener and putty knives) on Amazon for $99.

I haven’t tried the Fatmax version, but the Fastcap chisel is one of those tools that I thought was useless until I had one and now I don’t know how it made it through the day without it before. As a contractor, I leave one in my belt and use it for everything from hanging doors and cabinets, laying flooring, cleaning up overspray foam when hanging drywall… It’s smaller and lighter than a straight handle chisel and tough enough to survive years of beating. HIGHLY recommend.

I have the Fast Cap set They can take a beating and the diamond stone is very handy. I do a quick sharpening before every use. The steel is not the best, though. It’s a bit on the brittle side and doesn’t hold and an edge well, so probably better suited for carpentry and not furniture making.

I think some miss the point of a tool like this. A regular-handled chisle is a better tool. That statement however, doesn’t mean this one is pointless. Sometimes the best chisle is the one you have on hand – and you’re more likely to have this one because it’s smaller.

A similar example is the Knipex pliers wrench. Often a ratchet and socket are the better tool for the task – or the appropriate sized box-end – but it’s way more convenient for me to walk around my farm with a pliers wrench in my pocket than either of those.

Just saw it for the first time, had to buy it. Its seems very useful to have now I renovate a 3 store old wooden apartment we bought. I am a pro cabinetmaker, and my tools are often in the wrong floor when I need them. At least a chisel is now right at hand, when I need it. The size is perfect.

I appreciate I must have passed this by at the time, but somehow, I came across this the other day (~2 years on) and realized this would fit a real need I have. It’s no use having a big leather roll of ultra-sharp chisels in a box in the garage when I’m trying to fix something for a friend. I always find myself doing terrible things with a utility knife!
Anyway, I ordered one straight away. It has arrived, I sharpened it with the Tormek and now it cuts pretty well. Out of the box, the grind seems OK, if not marvellous. It took a little while to flatten the back, but not long to sharpen the bevel. So at long last, I’ll have a chisel in the toolbox that I take with me places. It won’t wreck anything in the box, and it won’t get wrecked by anything in the box because it folds. Neat! As Jared says above, “the best chisel is the one you have to hand”. By that reckoning, a lot of the time, this will be my best chisel.
So thanks, Stuart, to bringing it to my attention. I’ve no idea how I managed to miss the existence of this type of thing, but I’m glad you did.